Centrally controlling communication at a venue

Abstract

One example may include a method that includes receiving, at a presentation server, an audio data signal from a mobile device located in a presentation space, identifying a mobile device identification characteristic of the mobile device based on the received audio data signal, determining a mobile device location via a location determination procedure, and playing the audio signal via a loudspeaker.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method comprising:
 receiving, at a presentation server, an audio data signal from a mobile device located in a presentation space; 
 identifying a mobile device identification characteristic of the mobile device based on the received audio data signal; 
 identifying a microphone nearest a location where the mobile device is located based on the audio data signal being received from the mobile device at the nearest microphone; 
 determining a location of the mobile device based on the location of the nearest microphone; and 
 playing the audio signal via a loudspeaker. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , comprising:
 mixing the audio signal with a watermark audio signal. 
 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , comprising:
 responsive to identifying the mobile device location, capturing a photograph of the location of the mobile device to identify a participant associated with the mobile device; and 
 forwarding the photograph to participating mobile devices when playing the audio signal via the loudspeaker. 
 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the received audio data signal comprises one or more of textual data, audio data, image data and video data. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 2 , wherein the watermark audio signal comprises identification information associated with the one or more mobile devices, location information of the one or more mobile devices and data subtraction information regarding information to subtract from the audio signal. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , comprising:
 displaying the audio data on a display associated with a presenter device in communication with the presentation server. 
 
     
     
       7. An apparatus comprising:
 a receiver configured to receive, at a presentation server, an audio data signal from a mobile device located in a presentation space; and 
 a processor configured to
 identify a mobile device identification characteristic of the mobile device based on the received audio data signal; 
 identify a microphone nearest a location where the mobile device is located based on the audio data signal being received from the mobile device at the nearest microphone; 
 determine a location of the mobile device based on the location of the nearest microphone; and 
 play the audio signal via a loudspeaker. 
 
 
     
     
       8. The apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
 mix the audio signal with a watermark audio signal. 
 
     
     
       9. The apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein responsive to the mobile device location being identified, the processor is configured to capture a photograph of the location of the mobile device to identify a participant associated with the mobile device, and forward the photograph to participating mobile devices when playing the audio signal via the loudspeaker. 
     
     
       10. The apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein the received audio data signal comprises one or more of textual data, audio data, image data and video data. 
     
     
       11. The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the watermark audio signal comprises identification information associated with the one or more mobile devices, location information of the one or more mobile devices and data subtraction information regarding information to subtract from the audio signal. 
     
     
       12. The apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein the processor is further configured to display the audio data on a display associated with a presenter device in communication with the presentation server. 
     
     
       13. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium configured to store instructions that when executed cause a processor to perform:
 receiving, at a presentation server, an audio data signal from a mobile device located in a presentation space; 
 identifying a mobile device identification characteristic of the mobile device based on the received audio data signal; 
 identifying a microphone nearest a location where the mobile device is located based on the audio data signal being received from the mobile device at the nearest microphone; 
 determining a location of the mobile device based on the location of the nearest microphone; and 
 playing the audio signal via a loudspeaker. 
 
     
     
       14. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 13 , wherein the processor is further configured to perform:
 mixing the audio signal with a watermark audio signal. 
 
     
     
       15. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 13 , wherein the processor is further configured to perform:
 responsive to identifying the mobile device location, capturing a photograph of the location of the mobile device to identify a participant associated with the mobile device; and 
 forwarding the photograph to participating mobile devices when playing the audio signal via the loudspeaker. 
 
     
     
       16. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 13 , wherein the received audio data signal comprises one or more of textual data, audio data, image data and video data. 
     
     
       17. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 14 , wherein the watermark audio signal comprises identification information associated with the one or more mobile devices, location information of the one or more mobile devices and data subtraction information regarding information to subtract from the audio signal. 
     
     
       18. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 13 , wherein the processor is further configured to perform displaying the audio data on a display associated with a presenter device in communication with the presentation server.